Tuesday, April 28, 2009

wayne goldstein (1952-2009)

Longtime civic activist Wayne Goldstein died of a heart attack Monday morning in Rockville on the way to testify in a hearing before the county's Board of Appeals, family members said Monday afternoon . . . On the morning of his death, Goldstein was scheduled to testify about Suburban Hospital's planned expansion.

"If ever you can say someone went out with his boots on, Wayne was doing what he loved right up to the very end," said Drew Powell, former executive director of Neighbors PAC, and a fellow civic activist.

I spent most of my first year writing Just Up The Pikebashingcivicgroups like Neighbors PAC, whom Wayne Goldstein associated with (but was not a part of). He must not have ever read those posts, because every time I spoke to him he was friendly to me, if not to everyone else. The first time I met Wayne, we were standing outside the Marilyn J. Praisner Recreation Center after it had just been re-dedicated, laughing at Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg as she struggled to find her car amidst the other four cars in the parking lot.

I can say with confidence that Wayne and I would not have agreed on a lot of things, but I have a lot of respect for anyone willing to challenge the status quo as tirelessly as he did. He never held public office, but he was as influential as any politician in this county, and I'm sure the County Council shook a little anytime he entered their chambers. I hope I can do the same one day.

Wayne was one of the great people we have come to know in Maryland. His gentleness, his skills as a communicator, his love of life, and nature, and care for others, his sense of humor, all covered up a wealth of knowledge and sweep that could talk of pesticides, flowers, civic virtue, philosophy, and care for a sick friend. What a loss.

Dan,I disagree with you, I bet once you checked Wayne’s facts you might agree with him more than you disagreed. Wayne was a true blue Civic Activist steadfast in his convictions but for the most part he balanced his viewpoint with current relative facts. I have learned that people in the Civic World and that includes local politics boggers, all have an agenda. The key is to look at the big picture and see if your agenda fits in the overall scheme, or how and what you can do to make it fit. Dan it’s all about promoting the truth and working for the greater good of the community. You know Dan, you should join the Civic Federation, and you will learn that you do not have to always agree with the group in fact its best to have a diversity of opinion in a group like that. Boy would that be an interesting mix and I am sure Wayne would have loved that. Cary Lamari